2006 Hyundai Sonata Review

Specifications

Auto Climate Control, Stability Control and Traction Control are Worth the Extra Coin

Our long-term Sonata put on a decent number of miles during the past two (ahem) weeks - OK, were a few days late with the update, give us a break - totaling 359 miles, from 3,565 miles when we dropped it off at the dealership for servicing and to get the scratch removed from its rear passenger-side door, to 3,923 miles, just as Jennifer was driving out of the parking lot to do a bunch of errands this afternoon (or yesterday afternoon as you read this). I suppose I was expecting the odometer to read lower, being that over the Christmas holidays we enjoyed a full-load Sonata GLS V6 (yes, despite having leather seats and other goodies our regular GLS V6 doesnt feature every last bell and whistle) in place of our regular car. While the servicing hardly took a week, we left the long-term car with our Hyundai rep while we tested out the one with all the options.

This new car included automatic climate control, adjustable foot pedals, an auto dimming rear view mirror, traction and stability control system, trip computer, garage door opener and compass to our already well-equipped GLS V6.

Rather than include comments on this replacement car in the regular log entries, as we werent keeping track of the mileage of a vehicle that we only had in our hands for a single week, well discuss it right now in a collective editorial.

Overall, we all feel that the extras that came with this specific car, two of which we believe are essential for safety reasons, the first being electronic stability control, and the second, traction control, make the price to upgrade worth it. We mention stability control first because of its ability to pull an errant driver out of a tricky situation no matter on his or her ability behind the wheel. While the electronic driving aid wont help to claw back a cars velocity any quicker than the ABS-enhanced four-wheel disc brakes can, the latter already standard with our long-term car and all V6-powered Sonatas, it will help keep a skidding car, particularly one that has lost grip at its rear end and is starting to torque sideways, from losing complete control.

The day that we tested it might have been the soggiest of the year, but unfortunately there was no snow on the roadway up to the ski hill near the office. No worries, the water was running down the pavement in streamlets, deep enough to pull the front wheels off their trajectory and unsettle the chassis, a bit, but thats where the Sonatas stability control came in. First of all, in order to test it properly, we were driving at speeds that, well, lets just say our men in blue might have been a bit miffed. But still the Sonata performed flawlessly, even when braking heavily mid-turn while going through a rather deep and fast flowing rivulet - dont do this at home… unless youre driving a Sonata GLS V6 with all the trimmings, mind you, in which case, unless you were just plain being stupid and taxing the car way beyond its limit, it would slow in a controlled, efficient manner, setting up the suspension to take the next right sweeping corner that lay ahead, in this particular case.

Take-off from standstill is similarly benefited from traction control, which sapped away a little bit of the cars throttle response, but nevertheless helped to keep the front wheels gripping the pavement even under full throttle. Most of us in the office, at least those who drive fast for a living, would rather modulate the throttle ourselves, in most cases, but when its really slippery, such as the snowy conditions we had here on the West Coast recently, traction control certainly removes the guess work when getting out of the driveway is top priority, almost acting like all-wheel drive.

As far as the other features go, the automatic climate control is much nicer to use than the manual setup, although it looks much the same, minus the centre fan speed dial, replaced with a digital readout. Being able to set the temperature and have the system do the rest is nicer than constantly modulating the dial.

While Trevor and Rob could hardly care about the power actuated foot pedals, for Jennifer and Alexandra the feature made a big difference.

“I was able to get the steering wheel and seat in the optimal positions for comfort and control,” commented Jennifer. “Usually when my arms are in the proper, slightly bent 9 oclock, 3 oclock positions, my ears are up by the steering wheel. Not so with the power adjustable pedals.”

The automatic dimming rearview mirror is one of those frivolous extras, or at least we thought so until having to live without it. Its nice not having to reach up and click the dimming switch when someones lights blind from behind at night. Often the mirror just stays dimmed out of laziness to switch it back, which means that vision is impaired during the daytime. What we like about the auto dimming mirror is that while driving at night during a moment when there arent any lights shining into it, the image reflecting is brighter than a mirror that has been switched to the dimming setting manually. So, in effect, its probably a bit safer overall.

Theres an integrated compass set right into the glass of the mirror, whatever, while the trip computer took care of remedial items, such as distance traveled and approximate distance before the need to fuel. We didnt try the garage door opener, because we dont have a garage door, but our collective guess is that it works fine.

And now, before someone in the office has something more to add, or even worse, sends a last minute email about some new obscure award that the Sonata has won (OK, AJACs Car of the Year, Kiplingers “Best in Class”, Sobre Ruedas Magazine “Best Sedan 2005 Award Winner”, Popular Mechanics “Automotive Excellence Award”, and many of the other awards mentioned - and some yet to be mentioned Im sure - are hardly obscure), lets get on with the log entries:

Odometer: 3,570 miles

Trevor: Picked the car up and I dont think Ive seen it so clean since it was new. I love it when dealers clean a car when theyre finished servicing it. The scratch is gone, thank goodness, and all is right again.

Odometer: 3,580 miles

Jennifer: Yeah, its near perfectly clean in here. But just the same, before it was polished up and shampooed back to pristine condition, I was impressed with how well the light gray carpeting looked cleaner than the dirt on it should have allowed. The same for the seats; and on that subject all you mothers out there might ask your husbands to buck up for the leather, because its oh so easy to clean.

Odometer: 3,611 miles

Trevor: Yeah, I want that auto climate control back, and the automated rearview mirror. Kaden (5) liked the compass, thought it was cool. Im OK without the traction control, but the stability control would make me feel safer when driving faster than I should be in wet weather. Its not that the Sonata has ever broken traction and started sliding, but more of a, “I know its there if I need it thing.”

Odometer: 3,627 miles

Jennifer: Understood. Im missing the power actuated pedals. Never really found the Sonata to be uncomfortable before, but now that Ive tried those handy pedals Im wishing for the upgrade. If any of our readers are 55″ or under, they should probably opt for this feature.

Odometer: 3,674 miles

Jennifer: Not unlike most holiday seasons, were doing a lot of inner-city traveling to visit family. The Sonata has become the vehicle of choice merely because it fits so many of us inside (5 in total, but two in child safety seats and one, somewhat squeezed, in the middle rear position). The other car Trevor booked for this week, a totally selfish move on his part, is a Lexus IS 350, which, while very nice, is too small for a family our size.